Oceans and Afterlife
by Flying.Penguin.97
Summary: The Ocean is full of life, yet it is not life as you and I know it. To Survive there we must release our hold on land, accept a new way to live. Shepard talks to Thane about what it was like when she died


_BAM! A huge explosion tore me from the evac shuttle and guided me unwillingly into space. There attack had destroyed the gravity barrier and I was too close to the door of the shuttle. _

_The door slammed shut behind me and Joker was send blasting into space screaming my name. Another attack ripped through the ship sending me blasting out of the interior of the ship, into space itself, along with multiple shards of metal and wire._

_This far back from the wreckage of The Normandy the whole experience seemed like a bad dream. Beautiful, destructive colours sparked as the unknown vessel disappeared quicker then it had come leaving the Normandy in flames, multiple people dead and me drifting in space._

_I stared at the evac shuttles watching them go, leaving me behind. No doubt Joker though I was dead and to be honest that would become the truth sooner or later. Even with a full tank of oxygen what were there chances of finding me in time? Or the chances they'd even look for me._

_I stared at the beautiful blue light they left behind. It reminded me of the sea on Mindoir where I had lived with my now long gone family. At least when I died I would reunite with them, hopefully._

_I took in a deep breath which was normal, what wasn't so normal was the fact it didn't come as easy as the others. I stared behind. Oxygen leaked from the tanks spilling out into space where it was of no use to me. _

_I thrust backwards trying to grab the tube. My arms tangled in a mess as my legs kicked viciously into space. It felt like I was in the ocean. I remembered when I was little and learning to swim in deep water. I kicked my legs and flailed my arms for help barely keeping my head above the water where I could breath._

_The only thing different with it now is that I was sinking, I couldn't stay above the water, I couldn't get the air I needed. If I kicked harder and moved my arms more efficiently I might be able to break the surface but the panic was getting to me._

_I closed my eyes and with no vision to tell me where I was I imagined I was in the sea swimming towards the surface, but I was sinking faster then I could swim upward and all the effort was only wasting my energy, getting me no where. So I relaxed and stared around me. Fish swam past my vision as I sunk and the water played around me. I opened my mouth to gasp at the beautiful view but only a few bubbles erupted from my mouth._

_The fish seemed so comfortable in there environment, they breathed effortlessly and I thought if I could do the same I would be fine. I let go my hopes of reaching the surface and instead concentrated on breathing like the fish. I drew in the water from my nose and it filled my mouth and nose._

_At first I coughed and spluttered but when my whole body filled with water I could hardly tell the difference. I was so far below the water now that I couldn't see the surface and that was fine I didn't need it anymore. My friends were above the surface waiting for me to swim to them but I was fine under the water breathing easier then I would on land._

_I faced down looking at the water below me and swam down not up. The further down I got the less I felt the need to go back to the surface. The further down I was the easier it was to breath. I reached the bottom of the ocean and swished around, hair floating above my head. There over the ocean was my deceased family, my deceased friends._

_Our eyes locked and they began to swim towards me with the grace of the fish. I reached out to touch them, to pull them into a hug but before I could a huge force gripped my leg and yanked me up. I screamed towards my family as they disappeared from view as I reeled towards the surface. I tried to stop it but I couldn't. Just below the surface I stopped,the faces of my friends still up there gazing down at me._

_I didn't want to leave them but at the same time I didn't want to leave my family. Before I could decide I was pulled above the surface. The oxygen had no effect as I dangled above the surface no longer able to breath there, no longer able to survive there._

_And then the oxygen did work and I opened my eyes staring at the ceiling of the Cerberus facility._

Thane looked at me his head cocked whilst he stared at me. "Oceans and afterlife, I think you might just be right." I said whilst coming out of my memory of death.

Thane looked interested as he leaned forward. "How so Shepard, tell me from the perspective of one who has died."

I stared up at him, How to tell him about the memory I just encountered?

"When I died, I drifted through space struggling for oxygen, when I realized I was to panicked to do anything I closed my eyes. Without sight I imagined I was struggling in the ocean trying to swim towards the surface but unable to reach it. Eventually I stopped struggling and began to sink to the bottom slowly. I saw how the fish survived so easily down there when I was unable to, I envied them and then I copied them." I paused to swallow before speaking again.

"To survive under the sea I had to give up living like I would on the land, I had to breath under the water. I swam to the bottom and I saw my parents, I reached out for them but I didn't reach them in time, a force pulled me back up above the surface. I couldn't breath, I accepted death to live under the water and above the surface I could no longer survive."

I looked up at Thane as he listened genuinely interested. "But Cerberus brought me back, with there help I could survive above the surface again but no longer under the water."

Thane stared at me and when he knew I would say no more he spoke. "The ocean contains life but not as we know it, to survive there we must give up the life we know and accept a new way to live."

"exactly" I said "That's exactly what happened when I died." Thane stared at me and simply smiled.


End file.
